[Mission 2022] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 23 MAY 2022

GS Paper 1:

Syllabus: Modern Indian History Significant events, issues, personalities.

Context:

The 250th Birth Anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was celebrated on May 22nd this year.

About Raja Ram Mohan Roy:

• He is popularly remembered as the father of Indian renaissance.
• He was born on 22 May, 1772 in Radhanagar (Bengal Presidency).
• He represented Akbar II in England where he pleaded for his pension and allowances. Akbar II awarded him the title ‘Raja’.

Social Contributions:

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a crusader of women rights.

• He stood against the practice of The Abolition of Satis Act, 1829, was a result of R.R Mohan Roy’s efforts.
• He pleaded for the right of inheritance and property for women.
• He fought against polygamy and child marriage which were prevalent back then.
• He supported women education as he believed that only education would fetch women equal social status with men.

Organisations he is associated with:

• Started Atmiya Sabha in 1814 in order to crusade against idol worship, meaningless rituals and superstitious beliefs. He spreaded the monotheistic ideals.
• In 1817, along with David Hare, he founded the Hindu College at Calcutta.
• The Calcutta Unitarian Committee, jointly founded by William Adam and Rammohun Roy in September 1821, sought to bring together prominent Brahmins who were friends of Roy’s and supporters of his agenda for the promotion of religious monotheism and social reform.
• He created the ‘Brahma Sabha’ in 1828 (set up with Debendranath Tagore).
• In 1822, he set up the Anglo-Hindu school which taught mechanics and Voltaire’s philosophy.
• In 1825, he started the Vedanta college where Indian learning, as well as the Western social and physical sciences, were taught.
• In 1830, he assisted Alexander Duff to set up the General Assembly’s Institution, which later became the Scottish Church College.

Literary Contributions:

1. Brahmanical Magazine (1821).
2. Sambad Kaumudi, a Bengali weekly, started in 1822.
3. Mirat-ul-Akbar, a Persian journal.
4. Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (1804).
5. Vedanta Gantha (1815).
6. Translation of an abridgement of the Vedanta Sara (1816).
7. Kenopanishads (1816).
8. Ishopanishad (1816).
9. Kathopanishad (1817).

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Who gave Ram Mohan Roy the title ‘Raja’?
2. Institutions/organizations he was associated with?
3. Important Literary Works.

Mains Link:

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered as the “father of Modern India”. Discuss his contributions in making India progressive and rational which set our country on a path of modernity.

Q.1) Consider the following statements:

1. 1. Raja Ram Mohan Roy represented Akbar II in England where he pleaded for his pension and allowances.
   2. In 1825, he started the Vedanta college.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1. 1 only
   2. 2 only
   3. Both
   4. None. ]

Sources: PIB.

GS Paper2 :

Syllabus: India and neighbourhood relations.

Context:

Quad nations — Australia, India, Japan and the United States — are reported to be getting ready to unveil a maritime surveillance initiative to protect exclusive economic zones in the Indo-Pacific against environmental damage.

• The aim is to push back especially against massive and reckless deepwater fishing by Chinese trawlers in the region.
• For this, the Quad nations could utilise Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR).

About the maritime surveillance initiative:

It will bring together existing surveillance centres in Singapore, India, and the Pacific to create a tracking system for illegal unregulated and unreported fishing (IUUF) in the Indo-Pacific region.

Need for:

Chinese trawler fleets are seen as responsible for most of the IUUF in the Indo-Pacific region, and the initiative is likely to be viewed as a Quad pressure point against China.

• In recent years, IUUF has been seen as growing into a bigger threat to maritime states than international piracy.
• Studies have said that unregulated and unreported fishing are bigger challenges than illegal fishing, as they deplete stocks and deprive vulnerable regional economies of an important food source.
• China is the world’s biggest offender in this regard, and is believed to be responsible for 80% to 95% of the illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific.

About IFC-IOR:

• The IFC-IOR was set up in 2018 to coordinate with regional countries on maritime issues and act as a regional repository of maritime data.
• It presently has linkages with more than 50 partner countries and multi-national agencies across the globe.
• It is located in Gurugram, India.
• The centre was established as part of the government’s SAGAR (Security and Growth For All in the Region) framework for maritime co-operation in the Indian Ocean region.
• It hosts international liaison officers from partner countries, which include both India’s immediate neighbours in the Indian Ocean region and from further afield.

Insta Curious:

Have you heard about the U.K. Carrier Strike Group (CSG)? Reference: read this.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. What is IFC- IOR?
2. What is the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC)?
3. Locate Persian Gulf and strait of Hormuz.

Mains Link:

Discuss how observer status at the Indian Ocean Commission helps India secure its strategic objectives.

[Q.2) Which of the following nations are part of QUAD grouping?

1. 1. Australia
   2. India
   3. Japan
   4. The United States
   5. China

Choose the correct answer using the codes given below:

1. 1. 1 and 2 only
   2. 2 and 3 only
   3. 4 and 5 only
   4. 1, 2, 3 and 4 only. ]

Sources: Indian Express.

GS Paper 3:

Syllabus: Inclusive growth and issues arising out of it.

RBI Surplus Transfer:

Context:

The board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the transfer of ₹30,307 crore as surplus to the Central Government for the accounting year 2021-22.

• The board has also decided to maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50% without quantifying the amount.

Provisions in this regard:

The RBI, founded in 1934, operates according to the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934. The act mandates that profits made by the central bank from its operations be sent to the Centre.

• As the manager of its finances, every year the RBI also pays a dividend to the government to help with the finances from its surplus or profit.

A technical Committee of the RBI Board headed by Y H Malegam (2013), which reviewed the adequacy of reserves and surplus distribution policy, recommended a higher transfer to the government.

RBI’s Earning:

• Returns earned on its foreign currency assets, which could be in the form of bonds and treasury bills of other central banks or top-rated securities, and deposits with other central banks.
• Interest on its holdings of local rupee-denominated government bonds or securities, and while lending to banks for very short tenures, such as overnight.
• Management commission on handling the borrowings of state governments and the central government.

RBI’s Expenditure:

Printing of currency notes and on staff, besides the commission it gives to banks for undertaking transactions on behalf of the government across the country, and to primary dealers, including banks, for underwriting some of these borrowings.

Insta Curious:

Did you know?

In view of the RBI’s function as a lender of last resort, it needs to maintain some Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) to insure the economy against any tail risk of financial stability crisis.

• The Jalan Committee recommended that the CRB needs to be maintained at a range of 5.5% to 6.5% of the RBI’s balance sheet.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. About RBI.
2. Management of Surplus.
3. RBI’s earnings and expenditure.

Mains Link:

Discuss the mechanism under which RBI transfers surplus to the government.

1. 1. Returns earned on its foreign currency assets.
   2. Interest on its holdings of local rupee-denominated government bonds or securities.
   3. Printing of currency notes.

Choose the correct answer using the codes given below:

1. 1. 1 and 2 only.
   2. 2 only.
   3. 2 and 3 only.
   4. None. ]

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 3:

Syllabus: Biotechnology.

Context:

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has issued guidelines easing norms for research into genetically modified (GM) crops and circumventing challenges of using foreign genes to change crops profile.

• These guidelines are applicable to all public/private organisations involved in research, development and handling of Gene Edited Plants

Overview of the ‘Guidelines for Safety Assessment of Genome Edited Plants, 2022’:

• Exemption: The researchers who use gene-editing technology to modify the genome of the plant are exempt from seeking approvals from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
• The final call however is taken by the Environment Minister as well as States where such plants could be cultivated.
• All requirements that researchers must adhere to develop transgenic seeds will apply to gene-edited seeds except clauses that require permission from the GEAC.

Concerns raised by Environmentalist groups:

Environmentalist groups have opposed this exception for gene-edited crops.

• That say, gene editing is included in genetic engineering. Therefore, there is no question of giving exemptions to particular kinds of genome edited plants from the regulatory purview.
• Gene editing techniques involve altering the function of genes and can cause “large and unintended consequences” that can change the “toxicity and allergenicity” of plants. “

What are GM crops?

The GM plants involve transgenic technology or introducing a gene from a different species into a plant, for instance BT-cotton, where a gene from soil bacterium is used to protect a plant from pest attack.

Issues surrounding GM Crops:

The worry around this method is that these genes may spread to neighboring plants, where such effects are not intended and so their applications have been controversial.

What is Genome Editing?

Genome editing involves the use of technologies that allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome.

• Several approaches to genome editing have been developed.
• A well-known one is called CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9.

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC):

The GEAC functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

• It is a statutory body notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• As per Rules, 1989, it is responsible for appraisal of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. GEAC- establishment, composition and functions.
2. Is it a statutory body?
3. Bt Crops allowed in India.

Mains Link:

Compare Gene editing with that of Genetic modification. Discuss the potential benefits and risks associated with Genetic modification in crops.

(a) Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

(b) Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

(c) Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

(d) Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. ]

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 3:

Syllabus: Awareness in Space.

Context:

India’s Astrosat space telescope has witnessed the birth of a black hole in space for the 500th time.

• A black hole is a place in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape its pull.

What is a black hole?

A black hole is a place in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape its pull.

• According to Nasa, the gravity in black holes is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.

About AstroSat:

• AstroSat is India’s first multi-wavelength space telescope, which has five telescopes seeing through different wavelengths simultaneously — visible, near UV, far UV, soft X-ray and hard X-ray.
• Onboard the AstroSat is a 38-cm wide UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), which is capable of imaging in far and near-ultraviolet bands over a wide field of view.
• AstroSat was launched on 28 September 2015 by ISRO into a near-Earth equatorial orbit.
• It is a multi-institute collaborative project, involving IUCAA, ISRO, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru), and Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad), among others.
• It has been studying Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB).

What are Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB)?

• GRBs are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies.
• They are the brightest and most energetic electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe.
• GRBs shine hundreds of times brighter than a typical supernova and about a million trillion times as bright as the Sun.
• When a GRB erupts, it is briefly the brightest source of cosmic gamma-ray photons in the observable Universe.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. About AstroSat.
2. About Gamma Rays.
3. Black holes and their formation.

Mains Link:

What do you understand by Quasar?  What do quasars have to do with black holes? Explain.

1. 1. GRBs are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies.
   2. They are the brightest and most energetic electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe.

Choose the correct answer using the codes given below:

1. 1. 1 only.
   2. 2 only.
   3. Both.
   4. None. ]

Sources: PIB.

GS Paper 3:

Topics Covered: Disaster management.

Context:

Torrential rainfall and landslides in the past few days have eroded sections of roads and railway tracks in Assam.

• The weather department has predicted that “extremely heavy rains” will continue for the coming days as the states stay on ‘red alert.’

What floods are common in Assam?

Brahmaputra is braided and unstable in its entire reach in Assam except for a few places. The main reasons behind the instability of the river are high sedimentation and steep slopes.

High percentage of flood prone region: 31.05 lakh hectares of the total 78.523 lakh hectares area of the state is prone to frequent floods. And the reasons behind this high flood prone area percentage are both man-made and natural.

EARTHQUAKES/LANDSLIDES: Assam and some other parts of the northeastern region are prone to frequent earthquakes, which causes landslides. The landslides and earthquakes send in a lot of debris in the rivers, causing the river bed to rise.

BANK EROSION: Assam has also faced bank erosion around the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers as well as their tributaries. It is estimated that annually nearly 8000 hectares land is lost to erosion. Bank erosion has also affected the width of the Brahmaputra river, which has increased up to 15 km.

DAMS: Among the man-made reasons, the key cause of floods in Assam region is releasing of water from dams situated uphill. Unregulated release of water floods the Assam plains, leaving thousands of people homeless every year.

Guwahati’s topography — it’s shaped like a bowl — does make it susceptible to water logging.

Unplanned expansion of the urban areas has led to severe encroachments in the wetlands, low lying areas, hills and shrinkage of forest cover.

The river also changes course frequently and it’s virtually impossible to contain it within embankments. The pressure of the surging water takes a toll on these walls.

How governments have tried to handle the situation? Where have they failed?

Floods are a recurrent feature during the monsoons in Assam. In fact, ecologists point out that flood waters have historically rejuvenated croplands and fertilised soil in the state’s alluvial areas.

• But it’s also a fact that for more than 60 years, the Centre and state governments have not found ways to contain the toll taken by the raging waters.

The state has primarily relied on embankments to control floods. This flood control measure was introduced in Assam in the early 1950s when the hydrology of most Indian rivers, including the Brahmaputra, was poorly understood.

But, several of the state’s embankments were reportedly breached by the floods this year.

What needs to be done now?

1. Studying the river and the impact of climate change is a must to understand why the state gets flooded every year.
2. Water flow information shared by China on the Brahmaputra with India, for which India pays a certain amount, should also be shared with the public, as this will help in understanding the river better and therefore help people better prepare for floods.
3. More accurate and decentralised forecasts of rain can help in improving preparedness. Weather reports should be made available on district level and should be accessible to public.

Need for these measures:

As the economy of Assam is largely dependent on natural resources, what happens with agriculture and forests has direct effects on the livelihood of its people. During floods, water becomes contaminated, and climate change has a direct impact on the water resources sector by increasing the scarcity of freshwater, which is a constant problem in summer.

Sources: the Hindu.